Material Planner
Position Overview
The Material Planner sits at the critical intersection of Scheduling & Planning and Supply Chain, serving as the operational bridge between what we plan to build and what we are able to build. This role is not transactional, it is analytical, forward-looking, and highly integrated into the rhythm of the business.
The Material Planner owns the material readiness strategy. Through disciplined analytics, demand validation, and proactive cross-functional partnership, this individual ensures that the right materials are available, in the right quantities, at the right time, to support a reliable and executable production schedule.
Success in this role directly impacts schedule attainment, inventory health, cash flow, supplier performance, and overall operational efficiency. The Material Planner is both a risk mitigator and a performance accelerator anticipating constraints before they occur and aligning teams around data-driven solutions.
Key Responsibilities
- Material Readiness & Analytics:
- Run and interpret material requirements planning outputs to validate supply against production demand.
- Analyze forecasts, production schedules, supplier lead times, safety stock levels, and supplier performance trends to proactively identify risk.
- Translate analytics into clear action plans with defined mitigation steps and ownership.
- Continuously refine planning parameters to ensure system outputs reflect operational reality, not outdated assumptions.
- Floor Verification & Process Accountability:
- Conduct routine, hands-on production floor walks to physically verify material availability, location accuracy, and inventory integrity.
- Reconcile system-reported inventory with actual on-floor conditions to eliminate blind spots.
- Identify breakdowns in material flow, transaction discipline, or inventory control processes.
- Partner cross-functionally, including with Human Resources when necessary, to address repeated failure to follow established material handling or inventory procedures.
- Uphold the principle that system data alone is insufficient, material readiness must be validated through direct observation and disciplined execution.
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Cross-Functional Alignment:
- Partner closely with Scheduling & Planning to ensure production schedules are executable based on confirmed material availability.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain to align purchase orders, confirm delivery timing, and expedite critical materials when required.
- Lead proactive conversations when demand shifts, supplier performance changes, or timing gaps threaten execution.
- Serve as the authoritative voice on material readiness during schedule reviews and operational meetings.
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Risk Management & Inventory Optimization:
- Identify and mitigate material risks before they impact production execution.
- Balance schedule adherence with inventory health and working capital targets.
- Lead root cause analysis on shortages, excess inventory, or schedule disruptions and drive corrective action.
5. Operational Discipline & Continuous Improvement
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- Protect data integrity across bills of materials, lead times, and inventory records.
- Standardize processes that reduce subjectivity and increase planning reliability.
- Identify opportunities for automation and system enhancements that improve visibility, responsiveness, and decision speed.
Conclusion
The Material Planner is central to operational execution. This role protects revenue, strengthens supplier partnerships, improves on-time delivery, and safeguards inventory investment. When performed at a high level, it creates stability across the organization and builds confidence in the production schedule.
This position is designed for a highly accountable, detail-oriented professional who wants to be challenged daily, someone who is equally comfortable analyzing data, walking the production floor, and holding teams accountable to process discipline.
The Material Planner does not simply support the schedule; they enable the company’s ability to deliver.